Veggie meals

[beanie]

I am trying to cut down on the amount of meat we eat for cost and health reasons but have no idea what meals to cook. Any suggestions please

 

[Magic Monkey]

Veggie Chilli

You can add whatever you want. but I cook peppers, courgette, aubergine with onion and garlic, add 1-2 tins of tomatoes depending on what is needed, add a tin of kidney beans, a tin of lentils and chilli powder. Simmer until it is all cooked and thickened. We have it with pot wedges and sour cream.

Veggie curry - pretty much the same really but made as a curry instead!

Spinach lasagne

Make a tomato sauce, cook spinach, mix with cheese (cheddar/feta/ricotta, I use whatever we have) and pine nuts. Then put spinach mixture in the dish, cover with a think layer of tom sauce, lasagne sheets, white sauce, then repeat and top with grated cheese.

I tend to make the same sort of things as I would with meat, but with veggies and beans instead.

 

[newmum]

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4716 ... te-lasagne

We really like this. LO loves it

 

[tuck]

we eat this quite a lot:

eggs and tomato

depending how many you are cooking for, for 2 of us I usually use 2 BIG very ripe tomatos

take the stalks etc off tomatos, then chop them finely

in a large frying pan (prefarbley one with a lid)

heat about a tablespoon of olive oil, add the tomatoes, season, and saute until they have become really mushy, if you like you can add some pre boiled chopped potatos, herbs etc. I often add some tom puree and paprika for a little bit more flavour

once the tomatoes have become quite mushy crack the eggs (i normally do 2 eggs per person) into the tomatoes, cover and then poach until they are as runny or hard as you like.

That's it!, serve with fresh bread. we also have feta cheese with ours

Spinach and rice - sounds horrible but is lovely

Kilo of spinach - washed and finely chopped
large bunch of spring onions - finely sliced
bunch of dill - finely chopped
cup of rice (dont know what metric is but a mug full)
olive oil

put approx 1/2 pint of olive oil in large pan (I only use 1/4 pint oil), fry onions and dill until soft, add spinach and stir, cook for a couple of mins, add 1 pint of water and continue to boil until spinach nearly cooked, add the rice, salt, pepper and another 1/2 pint of water, stir and then reduce heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the rice is cooked and the water has all been absorped. if you wanted to you could add some tomatoes for further flavour

This is lovely with cheese grated on top when you serve.

 

[lauramumof2]

The egg one sounds lovely. And I will need to try the spinach and rice.
Mmmmmmm, now Im hungry. Feta cheese is lovely, I would eat it all day If I could.

 

[Minxy]

Tesco's do a bag of frozen exotic mushrooms for not much. They're lovely with Philly soft cheese as a omlette filling

 

[Charlie:-)]

Tesco's do a bag of frozen exotic mushrooms for not much. They're lovely with Philly soft cheese as a omlette filling

Cheers for that Minxy I always findit so hard to buy anything other than button, chestnut and closed and I like a bit of exotic in my mushroom risotto.

Beanie, how about mushroom risotto, if you need a recipe just ask more than welcome to share

Or spinach and chickpea curry, or spicy chickpeas
SPICY CHICKPEAS
This is my fave, its quite hot its a Madhur Jafferey recipe and its supposedly a dish sold in Delhi by street hawkers. I tend to make up two batches and freeze a batch. Its really easy to cook and takes approximately half hour to make. I usually serve it with a raita (nat yog, cucumber, mint and some ground cumin, I mix this in with Maia's portion to cool her's down a little) and chappatis or sometimes just cous cous if im in a rush.

If you are soaking your own chickpeas then weigh out half the recommended amount cause they double in size and weight once finished soaking.

5 tbs veg oil (I usually dont make it with veg oil I just use fry light olive oil spray)
2 med size onions, peeled & finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 tbs ground coriander seeds
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
6 tbsp of finely chopped fresh & skinned tomatoes or tinned toms
2 1/2 x 450g tins chick peas drained, or 675g home cooked, drained chickpeas
2 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds (if youre not sure how to roast cumin seeds just pm me & I can explain its the easiest thing in the world)
1 tbs ground amchoor (this is mango powder but I have made it without this ingredient cause its hard to find)
2 tsp sweet/smoked paprika (again I have made it without sweet/smoked paprika or I have used just normal paprika)
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs lemon juice (roughly juice of half a lemon)
1 fresh green chilli
2 tsp finely grated ginger

Heat oil, when hot add onions & garlic.
Stir and fry until a rich medium brown shade
Add coriander, cumin (not roasted cumin), cayenne and turmeric.
Stir for a few seconds.
Now add toms, stir and fry until toms are amalgamated.
Add chickpeas & 8floz of water.
Stir.
Add garam masala, ground roasted cumin, amchoor, paprika, salt & lemon juice, stir again.
Cover and turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove cover, add chilli and ginger, stir and cook for another 30 seconds then serve.

MOROCCAN CHICKPEAS & SPINACH
2 medium onions chopped
Fry light
1 tso cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
300ml veg stock
2 x 400g chick peas, drained (if soaking your own then I would use 335g dried weight)
4 ripe toms skinned & chopped (I have used a tin rather than fresh toms)
250g spinach washed

Spray a deep pan with fry light and on a medium heat add onions, cook stirring for 5 mins until turning brown.
Stir in cumin & garlic cook for a further 1 min.
Add rest of spices and mix well.
Pour in veg stock, bring to simmer and add chick peas and toms then simmer un-covered for 20 mins.
Meanwhile roughly shred spinach, put into large saucepan and cook for 2-3 mins until wilted.
Drain well through a sieve.
Add to chick peas and cook for 2-3 mins.
Season if needed.

This usually takes about 45 mins to make and again I seve with rice or chapatis with Raita,

Pasta Bake
Courgette
pepper
onion
aubergine
pasta
200g mozarella
garlic
2 tins of toms
herbs

Cut up all veggies and cook onion and garlic in oil, then add rest of veggies and toms and herbs and simmer for 20 mins
Cook pasta
When cooked mix pasta with sauce and pour into a large dish, sprinkle with grated mozarella and grill until bubbly and golden
Sometimes I only use half the sauce and freeze the rest then if I need to prepare a quick tea I take it out to defrost then all I do is cook the pasta, warm the sauce and add the mozarella and grill, tea ready in minutes.

Stir Fry
Spring onions
red pepper
baby corn
mange tout
ginger
garlic
noodles
oyster sauce
thai fish sauce (nam plah or something like that )
Soy sauce if desired but ok without
passata

Cut up veggies
stir fry spring onions, peppers, garlic and ginger
Make noodles as directed on packet
Add rest of veggies and fry for a couple of minutes
add sauces roughly 1 tbs of each except passata, I usually add about 150ml
mix well and add noodles
stir fry for another minute and serve

In our house we tend to alternate between meat and non meat, lik yesterday I slow cooked a shoulder of lamb (vey cheap cut of lamb but gorgeous slow cooked) and tonight we are having veg chilli, tomorrow its meatloaf and so on.

Also to give your veg chilli a bit of extra flavour add half a cinamon stick and 1 tsp of ground cumin when you have sauted yoru onions and before you add the toms.

Other non meat meals we have are jacket spuds, and good old eggs chips (homemade in oven with drizzle of olive oil) and beans, these are always great for a quick tea.

Bon appetit!

 

[Tina & Gabs]

There is a thread on page 2 with some veggie meal ideas, i posted this one on there but here it is.

My favorite (and easiest) veg dish is Mozarella pasta bake with quorn pieces.

Serves 6
150g pasta twists (I usually use whole wheat)
50g button mushroom, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
350g pack of Quorn pieces
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 level tbsp tomatoe puree
1 level tsp dried oregano
100g mozarella cheese, cubed (I usually use the light version too)
2 tbsp freshly torn basil leaves
75g cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 200oc (180 fan) gas mark 6. Cook the pasta according to the instructions. Drain and keep warm.

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes unitl just soft. Stir in the quorn peices, mushrooms and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, tomatoe puree, oregano and season well. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 6-8 mins. Add the mozarella , mely slowly over a low heat and then stir in the torn basil leaves.

Put the cooked pasta into the base of a 1.4 litre (2 and half pint) ovenproof dish and pour the Quorn sauce over the pasta. Sprinke with grated cheese and bake in the overn for 10 minutes until cheese is golden.
Serve with a green salad and or garlic bread. It is delicious

 

[poppy160]

Veggie Spag Bol!!

All I do is whiz loads of carrots, courgette, mushrooms, aubergine and whatever else I think would go in it, in the food processor til they're all chopped and add it when you've sweated the onions a bit.
Bung in a can of chopped tomatoes, a veggie stock cube or a teaspoon of bouillon powder and a squirt of tomato puree and serve with spaghetti.
I'll put in some chickpeas or something if I have any that need using up in the fridge, they go really nicely.

Quorn Sausage Casserole using the packet sauce is lovely too. Or Quorn sausage toad-in-the-hole. Or Quorn sausage pasta bake!

Yum Yum!!